So, how are things going in that minor primary we haven’t been paying attention to?

The chairman of the Delaware Republican Party received a death threat last week over his support for Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del) over Tea Party challenger Christine O’Donnell in the state’s upcoming Senate primary, a party official confirmed to the Huffington Post.

The threat, issued in the form of an email, told chairman Tom Ross that he deserves “a bullet in the head” for backing “political ass-kissing RINO’s” [Republicans in name only].

“It is one thing to have your country screwed over by socialists, it is far worse to be backstabbed by people pretending to be your friends,” the email read. “We will either rid the GOP of pieces of shit like you, or we will start a new ‘Common Sense Conservative’ party and render you all useless.”

Common Sense Conservative, Common Sense Conservative… Where have we heard that before?

Oh, and by the way, if you’re going to email a death threat, we’re not sure whether it’s common sense to sign it with your name and address.

Tom Ross, Delaware GOP Chair, Threatened With ‘Bullet In The Head’ [HuffPo]

“Charlie Crist, the current governor of Florida and Independent candidate for US Senate, is prepared to issue a ringing endorsement of gay rights in a document slated to be released as early as this week, according to a copy of a position paper provided in advance Sunday to RawStory.com.”

We had little time for reflection this weekend, which is probably a good thing, given the 9/11 porn out there. But we did notice that Newt Gingrich was stepping up his game:

“What if [Obama] is so outside our comprehension, that only if you understand Kenyan, anti-colonial behavior, can you begin to piece together [his actions]?” Gingrich asks. “That is the most accurate, predictive model for his behavior.”

“This is a person who is fundamentally out of touch with how the world works, who happened to have played a wonderful con, as a result of which he is now president,” Gingrich tells us.

“I think he worked very hard at being a person who is normal, reasonable, moderate, bipartisan, transparent, accommodating — none of which was true,” Gingrich continues. “In the Alinksy tradition, he was being the person he needed to be in order to achieve the position he needed to achieve… He was authentically dishonest.”

Read more »

Title: “Operation Dark Heart: Spycraft and Special Ops on the Frontlines of Afghanistan — and The Path to Victory”

Author: Anthony Shaffer

Rank: 65

Blurb: “Important Message for Customers: On Friday, August 13, 2010, just as St. Martin’s Press was readying its initial shipment of Operation Dark Heart, the Department of Defense expressed concern that its publication could cause damage to U.S. national security. The publication of the initial edition was canceled. However, after consulting with the author, Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer, St. Martin’s Press agreed to incorporate some of the government’s changes, which includes redacting classified text, into a revised edition, which is releasing on September 24.”

Review: “I don’t own this book — but obviously neither do most, if any, of the other reviewers.”

Customers Also Bought: “Zero History”, by William Gibson.

Footnote: Is it #65 because the Feds bought out the first printing?

Operation Dark Heart [Amazon]

Buy or Die [Stinque@Amazon kickback link]

We’re not sure when Utopia turned into Dystopia, but at the time of the 1964 World’s Fair, everyone was still looking forward to a Jetsons future.

Everyone including Arthur C. Clarke, who narrates this BBC Horizon programme (to be linguistically contextual) from that year. It reminds us of visiting Disneyland’s EPCOT exhibit as a kid, when Tomorrowland was still a realm of miracle and wonder, and not just the corner to dump Space Mountain and arcades. (Really: Whatever happened to the rotating theater? We loved the rotating theater!)

Read more »

“The Liberace Museum, which has exhibited the jewelry, pianos, garish gowns and other artifacts owned by the great pianist and showman, announced today it will close effective Oct. 17… At its peak, the Liberace Museum rivaled Hoover Dam as one of the region’s most popular off-Strip tourism destinations, drawing 450,000 visitors per year.” [Las Vegas Sun, via PourMeCoffee]

Delaware Republican Senate primary candidate Christine O’Donnell, whom we’ve managed to ignore despite her pleas for America to quit whacking off — think of the unconceived children, people! — is questioning her opponent’s sartorial choices:

“You know, these are the kind of cheap, underhanded, un-manly tactics that we’ve come to expect from Obama’s favorite Republican, Mike Castle,” said O’Donnell. “You know, I released a statement today, saying Mike this is not a bake-off, get your man-pants on.”

Good advice. And if you hit Old Navy, you can be confident in a comfy fit.

O’Donnell Blasts Castle’s ‘Un-Manly’ Tactics [TPM]